Beauty is in the eye -- just one -- of the beholder

How about those best-laid plans.

I set out to resume regular blogging this year, and I said I would do my best to post something 3-4 times a week. So of course today I'm writing for the first time in 11 days.

It's the eye, of course. It's difficult to get used to seeing with only one eye, and it's particularly rough on my depth perception. I feel a little like Governor LePetomane in "Blazing Saddles," trying to put his pen back into its holder.

[the Governor is having trouble putting his pen back into its holder]
Hedley Lamarr: Think of your secretary...
[the pen goes straight in]
Governor: Thank you. That's a good one.

It has been nearly three weeks since my little stroke gave me double vision, and it has actually gotten a little worse before it will get better.

When I stared into the bathroom mirror with the patch off, my right eye looked normal in its positioning, but the left was pinned as far to the inside, as crossed as it could possibly be.


So I don't think I'll be writing anything long anytime soon.

So for now, a few short takes from a disorganized mind:

GET IT DONE, BRYCE: We're nearly 10 days into Spring Training, and Bryce Harper still hasn't signed. It would be stunning to see him sign with anyone but the Phillies, but it has been truly bizarre in that they're essentially the only team offering him remotely what he wants.

It's sad to see him leave Washington, but while the Nationals will miss his power and his star quality, they won't miss his defense at all. Victor Robles is probably the favorite to be Rookie of the Year, and he can match or beat Harper in everything except power.

***

BOOK OF VIPERS? The latest book about the Trump White House is sort of bizarre. Alabama journalist Cliff Sims writes of his 500 days in the White House in "Team of Vipers," a takeoff on Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" about Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet.

Of course Trump attacked the book, doing his usual thing of downplaying the importance of Sims, who worked on the campaign and in the White House.

The great irony of it is that nothing Sims says in the book is less than laudatory about the president himself. The only people Sims criticizes are those working in the White House who are constantly at war with each other.

***

FORMER PASTIMES: I used to enjoy watching the Academy Awards, of which this year's show is this evening. I don't watch anymore, mostly because I'll have seen so few of the films nominated.

Of the eight nominees for Best Picture, I've seen half of one -- "Black Panther."

In fact, going back to 2010, I have seen exactly two of the Best Picture winners -- "The King's Speech" and "Spotlight." Mostly I enjoy watching older movies, although the movies I love from the '30s and '40s are ancient to younger people. Their old-time movies are ones with which I grew up in the '60s and '70s.